Murder Charge Dropped In Rapper's Death

James Barber faced a possible life sentence if convicted next month in the December shooting death of an aspiring West Palm Beach rapper.

But on Thursday, that changed.

Barber, 21, was sentenced to a 14-month prison term after prosecutors dismissed his second-degree murder charge and he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The surprise turnaround in the case came about three weeks ago when ballistics tests gave credence to Barber's claims that he shot and killed his childhood friend, Rodriguez Dante Barfield, 24, in self-defense.

Those tests, Assistant State Attorney Chris Riggio told Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Karen Martin on Thursday, swayed the state to drop the second-degree murder charge. "The State Attorney's Office did the right thing," said Barber's defense attorney, Fred Susaneck, after his client was sentenced.

Riggio said the charge was dropped based on evidence developed since the Dec. 20 shooting at Pinewood Boulevard and 32nd Street in West Palm Beach.

"When the ballistics report came in, that did it," Riggio said. "Based on the new evidence, we felt we had no good-faith basis to proceed on the shooting charge."

Three witness initially said that Barber killed an unarmed Barfield, who hoped to make it big as a rapper for a group called Modern Tragedy. Two other witnesses, however, said Barfield shot first and Barber shot back in self-defense.

West Palm Beach police did not find any guns at the scene but did collect 10 shell casings that were examined by ballistics experts.

Nine casings, found in the area where witnesses said they saw Barber, had been fired from the same gun, tests showed. The 10th, found where Barfield was shot, was from a different gun.

Riggio said that witnesses who said Barfield was unarmed recently changed their stories, saying Barber shot Barfield in self-defense.

"The victim's associates were threatening them," Riggio said. "They were in fear that there would be retribution."

Riggio said on Thursday that police originally did not believe witnesses who said Barfield shot first, but he defended the police investigators.

"West Palm Beach police didn't do anything wrong," he said. "We just developed new evidence subsequent to their investigation. The one thing the police didn't have at that time was the ballistics report."